Cuff-link.



F. E. WINSTON & V. B. ROGERS.

CUFF LINK.

APPLICATION FILED APR.29, 191s.

lfiwflfio Patented May 29,1911

WIT/V1588 NVVE/VTORS 7" W 6 MW E. VIIZNSTON AND VICTOR B. RUGERS, 01 NEW YORK, N. 1'.

GUFF-LINK.

Application filed April 29, 1916.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that we, FRANK E. lVrNsToN and Vrcron Rooms, citizens of the United States, and residents or" New York city, in. the county of New York and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in CufiLinks, of which the following is a specification.

Our present invention relates to cuff links of the class now commonly used for mens shirts the ends of which are customarily bent at the middle so as to bring the free ends approximately parallel with the two button holes opposite each other. The links comprise two heads and an intermediate shank, the shank being of suitable length and the heads at a suitable angle for permitting opening up of the parallel faces of the end to permit insertion of the hand.

We have utilized these features of prior construction which permit convenient diverging of the parallel sides of the cufif, retaining all of the advantages of the former rigid construction, and in addition we have made the shank extensible without sacrifree of rigidity, so that our link permits not only ready insertion of the hand, but in addition the drawing of the end far up on the arm without the necessity of unbuttoneither 01 the links from its button-hole.

The further features and objects of our invention will be more fully evident from the detailed description thereof in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which Figure l is a side elevation of the cufi link 2 is a longitudinal section of the link in its extended position,

Fig. 3 is a transverse section through the shank on the line 33 of Fig. 1, and

Fig. 4 is a similar section on the line H of Fig. 2.

The link is provided with heads which may be of any desired construction but are preferably formed of the flat plates 1 and 2 rigidly secured to the shank at 3 and 4 respectively. Cover plates 5 and 6, plain or ornamented may be secured over the hase plates in any suitable way as, for instance, by bending or spinning inturned flanges as at 7 and 8. The shank comprises a tubular section 9 telescoping within a cor responding section I By reference to Fig. 3, it will be seen T at ay 49, and. a.

J. L fit it Serial No. 9 1,228.

t the tubular sections are of fiat cross-section, the greatest diameter being eisposcd transversely to the length of the elongated head 2, so the shank fits tiatn so in the b ton-hole while the head remains crosswise ereof. Thus the flattened shank coipcrates with the elongated head in holding the fiat surfaces of both heads parallel with the diverging sides of the cuff when in position on the wearer. Furthermore the flattening of the shank prevents relative rotation of the head 2 with respect to the head 1. Thus the latter which is round is also held parallel with the adjacent surfaces of its end of the end.

The shank section 10 is formed with op posite longitudinal ribs 11 and 12 ailording internal. guideways or slots 13 and ll in which are engaging lugs 15 and 16 formed on the end of the shank section 9. The material of the ribs is bent in at the ends 17- and 18 so as to prevent withdrawal of the lugs and disengagement of the sections.

Within the telescoping shank section is spring. 19 having one end secured to the head 1 and the other end to the head 2, preferably by extending the end of the spring through a central perforation in the head and bending the material of the spring to prevent its withdrawal.

The above described device can be easily and cheaply made. The shank sections 9 and 10 can be made in long tubes either by drawing process or by welding or soldering sheet metal. The base plates 1 and 2 may bestamped and perforated by one stroke of a suitable punch. The tube lengths may then be brazed or soldered to their respective plates. The spring may be then inserted and the ends bent over. The cover plates 5 and 6 may be then applied and the flanges 7 and 8 inturned to secure them to the base plates and if desired, they ma he arranged to pinch the ends of the spring to prevent withdrawal thereof. The ends 17 and 18 of the ribs 12 and 13 are then iuturned to prevent withdrawal of the lugs 15 and 16, thus completing the article.

In use, the completed article has all the advantages of the present cutflink; the shank is rigid as before; the heads are nonrotatable with respect to each other as before: the normal size and use of the link is in all respects the same as before: and yet. when the wearer desires to pull up his shirt nae sleeve from the wrist to the forearm, the shank of the button will automatically lengthen out to twice its former length without danger of catching or pulling the flesh 'or hair of the forearm. When the cuff is pulled down again, the link automatically contracts to its former length.

lVhile we have thus shown and described with considerable particularity a desirable embodiment of our invention, it will be obvious that the same features may be embodied in specifically different constructions without departure from the spirit of our invention.

We claim:

1. A cud button composed of heads, a hollow shank connected at one end to one head and formed with opposite outwardly extending longitudinal ribs which latter are formed hollow and open into the interior of the shank, a hollow shank connected to the other head and received within the first named shank, lugs on the inner end of the second named shank sliding within the rib interiors, and a spring connecting the heads, and extending through the shanks, the inner end of the first named shank being curved inwardly to engage the lugs s as met to restrict the extent of separating move- -indent between the heads.

2. An extensible cuff button composed of heads, a rigid hollow shank connected at one end to one head, a rigid hollow shank connected at one end to the other head, said shanks being telescoped for free sliding movement, means between the shanks to restrict the separating movement thereof, and a contractile spring within the shanks connected at its ends to the respective heads.

,3. A cuff button composed of rigid telescopic shanks, a head secured to the outer end of each shank, one of the shanks being engageable with the head of the other shank to restrict the extent of approaching movement of the heads, means to prevent rela tive rotation between the shanks, means to prevent relative separation of the shanks, and a contractile spring connected at its ends to the heads to normally hold said one shank and head of the other shank engaged.

Signed at New York city, in the county of. New York and State of New York, this 28th day of April, 1916.

FRANK E. l/VINS'IUN. VICTOR B. RUGERS. 

